Update 2/11/23: We are now seeing an increased referral limit on Hilton cards also. Those cards used to feature an annual limit of 80,000 points earned from referrals, but that limit has now been increased to 140,000 points annually. The original post follows.
A reader named Sam emailed us to alert us to the fact that some cardholders are today seeing an increased limit in the number of points they can earn when referring others to open American Express cards. While you have long been limited to earning a maximum of 55,000 points from referrals on each of your Membership Rewards-earning cards, some cardholders are now seeing an increased cap of 100,000 Membership Rewards points per calendar year from referrals from a single card.
For clarity, we’re talking here about the bonus you get when you refer a friend and your friend is approved. Amex offers referral bonuses that range from 5,000 points per referral up to 30,000 or maybe even 35,000 points per referral. The catch has always been that you can only earn a maximum of 55,000 points from referrals on each of your Amex cards.
In other words, let’s imagine that you you had an Amex Platinum card offering 30,000 points per approved friend and also an Amex Everyday Preferred card offering 30,000 points per approved friend and let’s further imagine that you had two friends who wanted a new Amex card each. If you gave them both the referral link from your Amex Platinum card, you would earn 30,000 points from the first friend approved and only 25,000 points from the second friend since that would take you to the cap of 55,000 points per year from that card.
If instead you shared the link from your Amex Platinum card with one friend and the link from your Amex Everyday Preferred card with the other friend, you could earn a total of 60,000 points — 30K from each card. You would have been better off referring friends from two different Amex cards since you’d stay under the limit on each and end up with more points.
Now, some cardholders are seeing a limit of 100,000 points from referrals. In my household, my wife and I both see the increased limit only on our consumer Gold cards, but a member of our Frequent Miler Insiders Facebook group reports seeing it on his Platinum card, so YMMV. Unfortunately, my wife and I only have offers to earn 10,000 points per referral on those cards, but readers in our Facebook group have reported receiving the new 100K cap on cards earning 30,000 points per referral. That’s awesome!
Doctor of Credit is reporting that some people have received an email about this increased referral cap and some are seeing it online (as shown in my screen shot above) and others aren’t. I wonder if perhaps some who received the email just haven’t realized that the increased cap apparently does not apply to all cards.
At the end of the day, I’m glad to see the cap increased because it means the opportunity to maximize the value of your cards even more since you can refer your partner when playing in two-player mode as well as friends & family when they inevitably ask you how to travel with points and miles.
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[…] remembered a post that mentioned an increased bonus for AMEX referrals (I found it but the bonuses mentioned are no longer available.) I have no idea when someone used our link and if it was before or after I received the first email […]
Planning on signing up for Amex Hilton Business but don’t know anyone who has the card and can give me a referral. I hate leaving points/miles on the table (even if it doesn’t benefit me). Amex doesn’t allow Personal to Business referrals. If anyone reading this has the Business card…
Yes, Amex does allow personal to business referrals. You can refer from my personal Amex card like the Platinum, Gold, Green, Everyday Preferred, or Everyday to almost any Amex card (including the Hilton Business card). After you click through the referral link, you just have to choose the link sort of at the top that says looking for a business card? The person referring you still gets the referral bonus assuming you initially clicked through their referral link.
We don’t allow referral links here in the comments. You can always find a link to the best publicly available offer on our best offers page. But if you have a household referral, even better.
Thanks, wasn’t looking for a referral, I should have reread it before sending, sorry. My goal is to have P2 get the Hilton Business, and P1 to get 20k Hilton points. P1 can send a 20k referral but it doesn’t result in the magic words “Referral Offer”on the business card, only on the 3 personal cards. I believe it’s v important to see “Referral Offer” on the card writeup. Otherwise the person signing up with get whatever the offer is, but the referer will get nothing.
But you’ve got me thinking…Can I use my crazy-great 35k Amex Bus Plat referral for a P2 Hilton Business signup? Now that would be awesome. But I think I’ve got to stay within families.—-> Be the DP you want to see.~~~>After trying it, it doesn’t result in “Referral Offer” on the Hilton Bus card signup link. Having the card you’re signing up for have the words “referral offer” makes all the difference.
A) Yes, you would get 20K Hilton points referring to the Hilton Biz card as long as P2 clicked through your link.
B) Yes, you can alternatively get 35K Membership Rewards points by using the link from your Biz Plat assuming you’ve got that. It’s been that way since 2018. We frequently talk on the podcast about this being one of the many ways to build up points — P1 and P2 referring each other for Amex cards.
I can see where you may have assumed that the words “referral offer” mean something, but they don’t. See this post for more detail: https://frequentmiler.com/cross-brand-amex-referrals-possible/
I’ve been wrong before, and I get Amex allowis referral bonuses to be on almost every card, but I can’t help but think having the words “Referral Offer” on the specific Amex card signup blurb when the friend uses a referral link might be necessary if the referrer wants to get the referral points or miles. This sentence is why. It’s on the page where all the card choices are listed & the person get to choose what Amex card they’ll apply for (bold emphasis mine):
“Click below to find the right Card for you. Your friend can receive a referral bonus if you are approved for any of the Cards with a referral offer”.
Why would they bother with that sentence if all cards allowed for the referral bonus?
Almost, but not every, Amex card on a referral link has the words “Referral Offer” above the SUB description. On the referral links I or P2 generates (makes no difference if it’s from Bus Plat or Hilton Personal) “Referral Offer” is there, above the SUB description, with two exceptions: Bonvoy Business has “Welcome Offer” and Hilton Business has “Limited Time Offer.” Try as I might, I can’t seem to get the Hilton Bus card signup link to say “Referral Offer”.
I guess I’ll try with the 35k referral and see what happens. I’ll only get 15k anyway, b/c I’m at 85k in MR in referrals this year, & P2 maxed out their 100k yearly limit last month. If it results in 15k MR points, great. If not, life goes on.
Thanks for the great site, podcast, youtube channel.
I understand what you’re saying, but I’m telling you that real-world experience (gained over millions of referral points earned by the FM team / family / readers) contradicts what you can’t help but think — I don’t think it works, I know it works. To be clear, I understand your logic, I’m just telling you it isn’t the way it works. You’ll get the points.
Also note that the 100K limit is per card. If you have another card (let’s say an Amex Gold card) and it offers more than 15K points per referral, you’ll want to use that card to generate the referral link so you can get more than 15K points. You’re limited to earning 100K in referral points from each Amex card you have.
Ok, got it. Thanks. Will generate a 25k referral from P2’s Gold.
I see 100k on both my platinum and gold
Hi Nick, is it confirmed that you get 100k bonus per card, as you say in the article? I chatted with an agent, and this is what he said (wish I was able to post a screenshot):
ME: Hi, have a question about referral program. I read the terms and conditions but it doesn’t answer the question.
I have TWO carrds, platinum and golden that BOTH say that I can earn up to 100,000 membership bonus points. Is that TOTAL between the two cards, or is that for EACH card, meaning I can earn up tp 200,000 points if I use both cards to refer
AMEX: So as checked it total combining both the cards.
ME: are you sure about that? I read some comments on the internet that you can use both cards…. which is why I decided to ask an agent
AMEX: It is there for both the cards combined to one. We got checked it for you.
ME: ok, thank you for the confirmation
Yes, it is confirmed – the agent was wrong. Amex referral caps have always been per card. I have maxed out one card this year at 100K and I have earned 75,000 points on another.
Awesome, glad to hear that ! Now just need to find some who want to be referred hehe
Hi Nick. My Amex referral cap is at 100k. Does this apply to both the primary cardholder and the authorized cardholder? Does this means the authorized card holders and I earn 100k each, or a total of 100k? Thanks
Only a primary cardholder can refer others (an AU account wouldn’t even have the ability to create a referral link).
But if you are the primary cardholder on more than one Amex card, you can earn 100K from each card. For instance, you could refer friends using your Amex Platinum card link and earn up to 100K and you could refer friends from your Amex Gold card link and earn 100K from that, also.
Definitely targeted. P2 has the 30K/100K max. Mine are not even listed for MR, but $100 credit. I always give out the links from my P2 because the $100 is meaningless to me. I am also a AU on P2’s accounts. P2 links are Platinum 150K and Gold 90K, mine I have no idea what the applicant gets from my links. $100?
I run a beauty related blog. Never done these referrals before. Can you just post the referral links on the blog for readers to apply? Does the applicant then get to see my full name? I do not disclose my last name.
Yes, you could post your referral links on your blog. The applicant only sees your first name (though maybe they could figure your last initial because part of your name shows up in the URL I think?).
How is the best way to keep track of where you are on each card with referral bonuses?
100K on my personal Gold one, thanks for the heads up!
I see up to 100k per year in referral bonus on my Amex Gold but not Platinum.
Absolutely targeted. All of my/my wife’s cards still reflect 55k. Friend’s cards still reflect 55k.
I saw this too on my Amex Gold today. Sadly no increased bonus to refer to yet though!